Marshalls nab sex offender facing child assault charge

BY LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 10:29 pm, Wednesday, March 20, 2013

A child molester barred from any contact with children two years ago is now accused of savagely beating a 10-month-old while using meth with the girl’s mother.

Arrested by federal marshals earlier this week, Michael Shawn Melvin is alleged to have attacked the crying child. Previously convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl, the Seattle man is said to have left the infant with a fractured skull, broken ribs and “bruising covering the entirety of her body.”

King County prosecutors contend Melvin, 35, was involved with the girl’s mother romantically as well as professionally – Melvin was her live-in drug dealer, at least when her husband was away at work.

Since the March 11 incident, the child and her older sibling have been removed from her mother’s care. Melvin has been charged with assault of a child and is expected to be returned to King County Jail in coming days.

According to charging documents, Kent police and Child Protective Services launched an investigation after receiving a tip that the girl’s mother was smoking marijuana and meth around her infant daughter.

CPS investigators arrived at the family home in Kent to find the girl severely bruised. The child was rushed to Children’s Hospital in Seattle, where it was determined her skull had been fractured in the preceding two weeks.

Kent detectives interviewed the girl’s mother, who accused Melvin.

Speaking with police, the woman said Melvin stayed at her apartment when her husband was out of town. Melvin provided her with meth and marijuana, she told detectives, as well as companionship.

The night before the girl’s injuries were discovered, Melvin and her mother were in bed when the girl began to cry, Kent Police Det. Gerald Gee told the court. Melvin dealt with the child while her mother fell back to sleep.

The following morning, the woman noticed brown “crustys” -- presumably dried blood – on her daughter’s nose and vomit in her bedding. Washing the child, she saw bruises near the child’s groin.

Gee said the woman claimed to have confronted Marvin about the injuries; he denied the allegations. Investigators came to believe Marvin repeatedly slammed the crying child’s head into a bedroom door.

Detectives later spoke with the girl’s father, who was out of town for work during the alleged assaults. According to charging documents, he told police he had no idea Melvin had been staying at his home while he was away.

A registered sex offender, Melvin was convicted in 2011 of sexually assaulting the daughter of a female acquaintance. Melvin was sentenced to 20 months in state prison, and is currently under Department of Corrections supervision.

Charged with second-degree assault of a child three days after the alleged assault, Melvin was arrested earlier this week by the U.S. Marshall’s Service.

King County Prosecutor’s Office spokesman Dan Donohoe said Melvin is expected to be returned to King County Jail in coming weeks. Melvin has been ordered held on $500,000 bail.